“It continues to be a tough car to drive” - Lewis Hamilton not overly impressed by W14 performance amid Mercedes upgrades

Lewis Hamilton seemed unimpressed with the new upgrades fitted in the Mercedes W14 for the British Grand Prix, as he mentioned after the practice sessions on Friday (July 7).

Even though the W14 was thought to be a much better car than last season's challenger, the Briton stated that it 'continues to be a tough car to drive'. The team has also introduced new upgrades in the front wing and the promising performance that was showcased in Spain and Canada was expected to continue here at Silverstone.

However, Lewis Hamilton sounded largely unimpressed after the first two practice sessions. GPBlog quoted him as saying:

"Car-wise we are battling the same thing majority of the time. It's a tough car to drive, and no matter what we do to set up, it continues to be a tough car to drive."

The Brit added that there has been very less improvement between the laps, and also talked about a certain issue with the tires. He said:

"On a single lap, we didn't feel any improvement between tyres, which shows that something is wrong."

While many thought they had been sandbagging, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton managed only P12 and P15 after the second practice session on Friday. With FP3 up next (which will be followed by qualifying), fans will get a much better idea of the team's performance.

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Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell face disparity in their car setups

As Lewis Hamilton mentioned, the Mercedes doesn't feel great to drive under the current circumstances, no matter how differently the car is set up. He also talked about a certain disparity that is growing between himself and his teammate George Russell.

Hamilton was quoted by PlanetF1 as saying:

"Me and George were just talking about it, he’s one way, he’s like over here with his set-up, I’m over here, and he was like, ‘I’m thinking of coming to where you are but then your lap times are slower,' and I’m thinking, ‘I was going to come to where you are.' But, I think as I said, it’s a balance."

The Brit mentioned that Mick Schumacher, who is currently serving as their reserve driver, would work in the simulator. A story was subsequently posted by Schumacher on Instagram, revealing that he left the simulator late at night, at around 2:15 am.

Hence, a better performance for the car might be on the table for Hamilton and Russell.